Rector Prof. Wolfram Ressel describes Hansgeorg Binz as a university teacher and engineer through and through, who has made important contributions to research and teaching and who has been jointly responsible for achieving a number of important milestones as Vice Rector for Teaching and Continuing Education. During his time at the University of Stuttgart, Binz was also Dean of Studies in Mechanical Engineering and Chairman of the Joint Commission on Mechanical Engineering. Wolfram Ressel thanked Hansgeorg Binz for his commitment to developing high-quality mechanical engineering study programs and for all the innovations in teaching that he was involved in throughout his career, such as the Medical Engineering program, the Professional School of Education and the Day of Teaching and Learning. "The students are grateful to you for your commitment to ensuring that studying could continue during Corona," emphasized Jonathan Müller from the Stuvus student council, adding that Hansgeorg Binz always had an open ear for the students and conducted discussions with respect, which should not be taken for granted.
Research at IKTD
Prof. Hansgeorg Binz often bought fresh impetus to the IKTD. For example, the Department of Interior Design Engineering was established during his time as head of the institute. The IKTD is characterized by commitment, motivation and passion. The institute sees itself as an ideal symbiosis of construction engineering and technical design, said Prof. Dr. Thomas Maier, who is head of research and the subject of technical design and also head of the IKTD. In terms of future perspectives, Prof. Dr. Wolfram Remlinger, who holds the chair for Interior Design Engineering, recognizes that the institute enjoys a privileged position due to diversification and its partnerships within the industry and business sectors.
A science slam also highlighted how diverse the research at the IKTD is. During the course of the slam, adaptive load-bearing structures and facades were presented, the speakers discussed projects on design guidelines for the use of aluminum foam, the calculation of lightweight construction potential, and even selective laser melting. And former doctoral students showed that a doctorate at the IKTD is a great advantage in terms of career progression.
It was a great time
Hansgeorg Binz emphasized the variety of skills needed, and the great challenge of teaching them in the time available, such as smart machine elements, new materials and technologies, new tools and methods, and interdisciplinarity. Binz added that sustainability is becoming a challenge for teaching product development. Furthermore, he also encourages including the subject of ethics in teaching and urged developers to pay more attention to diversity. Binz went on to say that innovative teaching concepts are also needed, as well as a modified aptitude assessment procedure and more collaboration with schools. Binz also predicts that entrepreneurship will become more of a focus, as will the expansion of English language courses. In addition, he also mentioned that it would be sensible to focus on integrative knowledge transfer in university courses and for specialized subjects, and to expand teaching formats. Hansgeorg Binz's call for the future is to "Teach the right basic principles, methods and social skills", and to sum up he emphasized, "I had a great time!"